Fake dating my enemy, The playboy billionaire

Before I can even open her door, she’s already trying to jump out. I press the button quickly, locking it with a click before she can escape. "Don’t you dare, miss."

"Why?"

I jog around the car, open the door for her, and give her my most innocent smile.

"Because I said so," I offer her my hand.

She looks at it, rolling her eyes but then taking my hand anyway. "I can open my own doors, you know."

"Just because you can doesn’t mean you have to."

I can feel how cold her hand is. "Jeez, your hands are freezing," I pull off my jacket and wrap it around her.

Bear is already bouncing excitedly at our feet, tail wagging so hard it looks like he might take off. I rub his ears. The little guy’s always been a big foodie just like his hoomans.

Perfect matchmaking by God.

"Wow, this place is a hidden gem!" Her voice is filled with genuine surprise as she takes in the scene. I knew this place wouldn’t disappoint me.

"You’ve been here for how long, and this is the first time you’re seeing this?"

"Shut up," she bumps me with her shoulder. "I had no idea this place existed."

"Well, now you do. And we’re making sure we come here a lot more."

"Definitely."

We both start looking over the food trucks, making decisions on what to order. It’s harder than I thought because everything smells so damn good. My stomach growls.

We look for a seat while balancing our food boxes. This place is always jam-packed.

We spot a family getting up from a table. Before anyone else can grab it, Yiren makes a mad dash to claim it. She runs fast, and gets there first, placing the boxes down with a triumphant grin. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Bear, of course, is right behind her, barking at a woman who was also running for the table and chasing her away. I can’t help but laugh.

Damn. So adorable. That’s who real Yiren is.

My favorite. Always will be.

"You might have broken a few international records with that sprint."

She snorts, adjusting the boxes on the table. "I’m competitive."

"For a moment, I thought you lost," I tease.

She turns to me, "No way. Then I’d have fought for it. And Bear too."

Bear happily plops down at her feet, already eyeing the food with intensity. As she opens the boxes and starts sampling the food, I watch her, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh my god," she moans, taking a bite of lamb chops. "Why didn’t you bring me here before, Juju? This is heaven."

My heart melts, enjoying the sight of her so excited over something as simple as food. "Never got the chance. We’ve always been busy. And I figured you preferred home-cooked meals and movies."

She shakes her head. "Home-cooked meals and movies are nice, but this? This is next level. You’ve been holding out on me."

The lamb chop is really good and juicy as I bite it, which explains the look I got when I snag a piece from her box. But who is going to tell her she ordered the same old chicken tikka and lamb chops is my order?

Not me.

"This place," She roams the half-eaten lamb chop piece around, a little marination sticking to the corner of her lips, "should be declared as a perfect date night place."

She realizes what she said, her eyes snap to me, and I can’t stop the laugh that spills from my chest. She’s blushing, and it’s adorable.

I wiped the marination of her lips and licks my finger clean. She gets flustered and wipes her lips with tissue paper.

Ah too bad. I was doing a fine job.

"When I’m taking you on a date, it won’t be here." "Oh. Then where will you take me?"

I lean even closer, just enough to make her heart race. "Why? Are you looking forward to it?"

She shoves the lamb chop into my mouth, moving on to trying something else or maybe covering her red face. But that’s true. Because I have already finalized the place where I want to take her on a date. In Jun’s style.

"Since when are you coming here?"

"Fifteen years. I found this by mistake when I took the wrong turn but since then it’s a must. I have recommended it to so many people and they all thank me for it."

"Oh oh oh, correct." she takes out her phone, mark the location, and names it under the Imperial city. "What’s that?" I take the phone from her scrolling the numerous city names- famous food joints and location saved. The title reads, Must Eat, Don’t miss. "Unbelievable. You have an entire directory of the best food places to try in all these cities?"

She proudly nods, "Whenever I travel, I mark the places I want to come back to. That way, I don’t miss it."

I can totally imagine a foodie like her doing that. And another foodie like me coveting that list. "I need a copy of it. One day we will do a world tour just to try all that."

She opens her mouth and closes it again as if stopping herself to say. I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her hair. At least she isn’t refusing me outrightly.

"Which one is your favorite?" I ask, wanting to know more about her, more about the things that make her happy.

"La Colmena in Barcelona. The éclair and crème brûlée are to die for. My parents used to take us there once a year." Her voice drops, "But it’s been a while. Since Mom died, and Papa withdrew completely I never went there again."

I squeeze her hand, "Your Papa is doing great. His therapist gave me a good report this week. In fact he has picked a hobby- gardening. And been buying succulents like crazy."

"Really?"

"Look yourself," I show her my phone, the picture the therapist sent me of her papa working in the garden. She sends the picture to herself, getting emotional.

Oh no. Crying is not allowed. Enough done already. "You know what my favourite place in Barcelona is?"

"You have a favourite too?" She sounds curious and then thinks of something. "Is that La Violeta?"

Shit.

"How do you know? Jianyu told you?"

"No. It’s the most famous candy store. And you have a special thing for candies. Strawberry candies to be specific."

My grin widens, "And Mint candies for you. You are not a saint either."

And we started laughing like two kids. I’m glad she’s feeling better now. When I saw her earlier I felt my heart squeeze. She looks like as if someone sucked the life of our her. It scared me.

Yiren scoops the half-eaten boxes of food from our table to munch on them later at night. Bear stopped by a food truck where he saw kids eating Ice cream and starts giving me puppy eyes. So I bought three for us.

I help her put the boxes in the back seat while she checks something on phone. Her brows frowning. "All okay?"

I ask buckling the seat belt on her. She look up, "Daryl died?"

I donn’t answer and instead rounds the car to get in the driver’s seat.

"You are not surprised. You know about him."

"I do."